Cyber-Leader Initiative
If
technology is your passion, you can help us by funding state
of the art computer systems to enable our future Christian
leaders to access the Internet from their homes.
A
student’s academic success in today’s college
environment is very much dependent on ready access to computers
and the Internet. Not only do instructors require that all
papers be typed, but they also are increasingly giving assignments
that require extensive time on the Internet for research.
In addition, for students requiring special tutoring, a wide
variety of resources are now available online which can help
them quickly resolve the issues blocking their academic progress
in a particular class. Math.com is one such widely used and
effective web site used by students for Internet tutoring.
For most American families, a computer and web access are
as common as the television. However, in the disadvantaged
families with whom we work, this is not the case. Not only
are many of our students and their families unable to afford
the initial hardware expense, but they also are unable to
access the Internet for a variety of reasons: They do not
have credit cards. They no not have checking accounts. Or
they simply refuse to give out that information to those who
require it for Internet access. These facts force the vast
majority of our students to compete with others at crowded
colleges or public libraries for a very limited number of
Internet linked computers. They would be much more successful
in their classes if they had ready Internet access at home.
The overall academic performance of our students and our ability
to tutor them properly would be greatly enhanced if all were
able to successfully access the World Wide Web from their
homes. Taking into account our growth over the next twelve
months, we anticipate a need to acquire 45 state-of-the-art
computer systems with Internet access for the coming year.
This will place in the home of every one of our students a
computer, printer, software, and the Internet access necessary
to excel in college and successfully compete with those who
are financially more fortunate.
In pursuit of this objective, Ascending Lights recently established
a relationship with L.A. Free Net. This is a non profit Internet
service provider. A direct link to the web can be purchased
for one year for any of our students at a cost of $50.00.
We have tested the service and it is excellent. There is instant
access. There are no pop up advertisements, no electronic
solicitations, and no need for credit cards or bank accounts.
With reasonable Internet access available to us, we are now
ready to ensure that each of our students has Internet access
in his or her home. Our plan is to loan each student an inexpensive,
yet state-of-the-art, desktop computer and printer and to
pay for Internet access for that computer while the individual
is in our program. When the student finishes the program,
the computer system and the Internet access will be moved
to a new scholarship recipient.
The costs we expect to be as follows:
| Desktop Computer (Pentium 4, XP) |
$599 |
| Monitor |
80 |
| Printer and cables |
150 |
| Software (Licensed from Microsoft) |
50 |
| Maintenance |
50 |
| TOTAL PER STUDENT |
$929 |
| TOTAL HARDWARE/SOFTWARE COST FOR 45 STUDENTS |
$41,805 |
| Internet Access for 45 students |
900 |
| TOTAL NEED |
$42,705 |
In kind donations of computer systems are welcomed
provided they are Pentium III or later with Microsoft Windows
XP operating systems, 128K RAM and 56K modems.
If you would like to assist us in our Cyber-Leader Initiative
please contact:
Gary Krauss
President
Ascending Lights Leadership Network
P.O. Box 27790
Los Angeles, CA 90027
877-445-4244
justintch@aol.com
The Ascending Lights Leadership Network is a 501(c)(3) program
of the Saint Justin Education Fund for Los Angeles Incorporated.
Federal Tax I.D. 95-4453824.
Contributions are tax deductible.
|